WHITEFISH -- Vice President Dick Cheney blasted Democrats for not supporting the war in Iraq, and said Montanans need to re-elect Republican Sen. Conrad Burns to make sure the administration can carry out its wartime plans.

The vice president, speaking at a fundraiser for Burns on Wednesday, said the administration is sticking by its plan to stay in Iraq as long as it takes to make sure the country is stable. He said it would be wrong to set deadlines for withdrawing troops.

Cheney said the U.S. sent the wrong message when it withdrew from Beirut in the 1980s and Somalia in the 1990s.

''In both cases the United States responded to those attacks by withdrawing our forces,'' Cheney said. ''The terrorists concluded that if they killed Americans they could change U.S. policy, because they had.''

Backing out of Iraq now would only encourage terrorists and embolden al-Qaida, he said.

''They fundamentally believe that we don't have the stomach for the fight,'' Cheney said.

About 160 people paid at least $250 to attend the fundraiser for Burns, who finds himself locked in a tough re-election battle with farmer and state Sen. Jon Tester.

Burns supporters could pay $2,100 to attend a reception before the lunch and get a photo with the vice president. A $5,000 donation allowed a photo with Cheney and some fly fishing with Burns.

National defense and the war on terror took center stage in Cheney's speech.

''Here in the U.S. we have not had another 9-11,'' the vice president said. ''No one can guarantee we will not be hit again. But the relative safety in recent years is not an accident.''

Cheney said the foiled plot to bring down airliners serves as a reminder of the constant threat.

Burns said Democrats are full of ''a lot of negativism, but we don't hear any new ideas.''

Tester has blasted the administration for leading the nation into Iraq on false pretenses.

Democrats are banking that Cheney, whose image has suffered in recent years, will hurt the GOP campaigns more than help them.

''I think it's ironic that while Montana families and farmers are paying $3.25 for gas, the chief architect of the country's failed energy policy is here raising money for Sen. Burns,'' Tester spokesman Matt McKenna said. ''There is a lack of leadership in Washington, and Montanans are paying for it at the pump.

''What we need in Iraq is a plan, we cannot afford an open-ended commitment.''

Burns said the GOP is planning a new agriculture and energy bill that will promote energy independence and renewable fuels grown on farms.

The Burns-Tester race is viewed as a toss-up, despite the three-term incumbent's big advantage in money and name recognition. Democrats have hit Burns hard by trying to link him to the Washington D.C. lobbying scandal and indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.